Am I the only fan of Brian Cowen?

doc_17

In relation to your question we are where we are going forward.

I think the above answer does most questions these days

Liam Byrne

ninty9er wrote: »

€57,000 is a fairly substantial pay cut in my book, regardless of what you were earning to begin with

€57,000 of the extra cash that you don't need. €57,000 would be a substantial cut if it left someone with €15,000 a year.

ninty9er wrote: »

....after 10 years of PD economic policy we're a low tax economy with plenty of room for increases.

Really ? Let's leave aside that it's amazing that you're claiming that it was "PD economic policy" - I don't ever remember them being in government on their own - and look at the facts and reality of day-to-day living.

Once upon a time, your taxes paid for lots of things; refuse removal, roads, schools, a health service, etc.

Nowadays, while you might be paying slightly less tax, you are charged for all of the above, and are soon to be charged for your own septic tank and your own property (despite having already paid stamp duty, etc).

So let's assume that someone was on, say, €25,000; their "tax" might be down from €3,000 a year to about €2,500 a year, but add in all of the above and their outgoings are massively higher; €800 a year on tolls, double the fees on health insurance and doctor/hospital fees, etc, not to mention paying way over the odds for most goods and services because of the cost of doing business in this country.

So I would argue that they are now paying MORE for the same services.

So where is this scope for extra taxation ? At what stage does the above person wonder whether it's worth living and working in this country ?

Add in FF ministers claiming that they can't live on €67,000 a year, and you've got an obvious disparity between the real world and FF-world.

Essexboy

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

He is a qualified barrister. Enda Kenny is a primary school teacher.

Biffo is a SOLICITOR!

Essexboy

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

I have to admit, I prefer American politics due to it's entertaining nature, but lately I have been listening/watching Oireachtas sessions online, and I have to admit - I'm loving Brian Cowen!!

He is extremely intelligent.
He is very well spoken (apart from the fat man slur(not a drunken one!)).
He knows figures off by heart.
And he is willing to make unpopular decisions to better the country. (in my own opinion)

All of these qualities seemed to be magnified due to Enda Kennys inadequacies.


Here is Cowens latest speech. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzUbzDH2IA&feature=sub

Judge for yourself. Plenty of videos of all Dail sessions online.

***NB*** I am not part of any political party, I just call it the way I see it.

And he is willing to make unpopular decisions to better the country

Like FÁS? Where he defended Rody Molloy, then gave him a golden handshake
just like Pat Neary!

BillShorey

Het-Field wrote: »

I see bull**** now comes in industrial strength sizes

You could have summed your hackneyed point up in two words i.e. "Enda Kenny". Instead you just level criticisms which could be attributable to almost every political leader on ths Ireland. At what point has Brian Cowen ever given a remark of great political probiety or insight ? At what point has Brian Cowen ever avoided proffering verbal diahhorea in exchange for noteworthy, and implementable policy or ideology ?

The Kenny/Bruton split ? Yes it was unedifying from FG. It was unwelcome for those of the blueshirt persuasion. However, it has long since passed. I would also question why FF have stuck with Cowen for so long. I know what you would say, but I would venture that 18% in the polls makes instability a non-runner as far as the careerist hacks and glorified County Councellors are concerned. They want to retain their seats, and instability now deprives them of every opportunity of doing so. Otherwise, much like Albert Reynolds, he would have been ousted without mercy.

Im also interested by your definition of the typical FGer. It is just as reprehensible and ignorant as the average steryotype that a FGer holds about the average FGer.

Your post was pathetic, and is the usual rubbish I have come to expect.

I'm sorry I upset you by criticising your leader, I had no idea Enda had fans with such an emotional investment in his character.

The Kenny/Bruton ordeal did one of the most important things that FG have done for this country in recent years: It split the belly of the party open and exposed them for what they truly are.

Coupled with the absolute mockery of Irish Politics that was George Lee and the subsequent handling of that joke by FG, the party have shown that they are in no way fit to govern this country.

What is your stance on Kenny's decision with regards to George Lee? He absolutely shafted a very devoted and very capable South Dublin councillor (who has now gone on to do a lot better things with his life than FG as a result) to run that mockery to Irish politics for the seat. Are you going to stand by and support that? What about how he handled the resignation? This was on Kenny's back, at a time when Kenny had 0 approval from the public, why didn't he do the right thing and give up his leadership after that farce?

Why, despite such clear pleas from the voters to do so, has Kenny not given up his leadership in favour of someone who will actually lead the party into government in this country?

He's absolutely indefensible, he's a bumbling fool and will make a mockery of this country if he is ever to represent us as Taoiseach.

I'm not here claiming that Brian Cowen is a magnificant leader whose every word glistens with life changing inspiration, but he's a hell of a lot better than the alternative right now.

If FG are to ever be in power here, I can only hope they get Richard Bruton or Leo Varadkar to the helm to do so. Also, I'm sorry you felt my post was pathetic, but there isn't a word of a lie in it and I'm sorry if it hurts to hear/read.

Liam Byrne

BillShorey wrote: »

the party have shown that they are in no way fit to govern this country.

So "bickering" somehow precludes them from running the country as much as screwing up the economy ?

BillShorey wrote: »

What is your stance on Kenny's decision with regards to George Lee? He absolutely shafted a very devoted and very capable South Dublin councillor (who has now gone on to do a lot better things with his life than FG as a result) to run that mockery to Irish politics for the seat.

Maybe because a "devoted and capable" South Dublin councillor isn't qualified enough to fix the economy ?

Should people be given jobs that they're not suitable for just because they're "devoted" ?

Actually, don't bother answering that, because if you either support or excuse FF then we already know the answer.

BillShorey wrote: »

Why, despite such clear pleas from the voters to do so, has Kenny not given up his leadership in favour of someone who will actually lead the party into government in this country?

What "clear pleas" ? You mean the opinion polls ? The same mechanism that has shown "a clear plea" from the country for FF to get the hell out of office ? A plea that they're not only ignoring, but actively contesting in the courts in order to manipulate democratic by-elections for their own interest ?

BillShorey wrote: »

He's absolutely indefensible, he's a bumbling fool and will make a mockery of this country if he is ever to represent us as Taoiseach.

Show me a better alternative and I'll run with that argument. Shane Ross or Pat Rabbitte would be my preference, but failing that Kenny & Gilmore are streets ahead of the former Minister for Finance who led us head-first into this fiasco and has lied through his teeth every step of the way.

Name ONE thing that Cowen has actually DONE in the interests of the country since the crisis emerged.

Cowen is complicit in the causes of the crisis and makes it worse every time he opens his mouth, whether it's the latest lie or the immovable and undemocratic statements about "saving the banks at all costs"; as soon as someone on the markets hears that, the sound "ka-ching" goes off in their head and they know that they can screw us as much as they want, as proven by the interest rates.

Liam Byrne

Essexboy wrote: »

And he is willing to make unpopular decisions to better the country

Note/Clarification: The above isn't actually Essexboy's own opinion

One can only wonder when he started doing that, because he certainly didn't do it while he was Minister for Finance.

And I also don't know how "returning AIB to its former glory" (i.e. back when it wrote off FF debts) or bailing out the Anglo cesspit with our money is meant to "better the country".

x in the city

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

I have to admit, I prefer American politics due to it's entertaining nature, but lately I have been listening/watching Oireachtas sessions online, and I have to admit - I'm loving Brian Cowen!!

He is extremely intelligent.
He is very well spoken (apart from the fat man slur(not a drunken one!)).
He knows figures off by heart.
And he is willing to make unpopular decisions to better the country. (in my own opinion)

All of these qualities seemed to be magnified due to Enda Kennys inadequacies.


Here is Cowens latest speech. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzUbzDH2IA&feature=sub

Judge for yourself. Plenty of videos of all Dail sessions online.

***NB*** I am not part of any political party, I just call it the way I see it.

are you smokin pineapple express?

DublinWriter

DublinWriter wrote: »

Charles Haughey was not only a qualified barrister, but also a Chartered Accountant and held a BA from UCD.

Your point is...?

I didn't know that Charlie Haughey was a Barrister?
Have you a source for that? [other than wikipedia which I don't trust]

BillShorey

Liam Byrne wrote: »

So "bickering" somehow precludes them from running the country as much as screwing up the economy ?

Sorry but that incident cannot be dismissed as "bickering". It was an absolute sham, the day before one of the most critical moments of late for the party and they go and completely screw it up. They then go on to expose themselves as self-serving cretins. Mocking Kenny one day when you think your chances are better with Bruton and then back suckling at the teet publicly when Kenny mentions he might take the "rebels" back? Don't make me laugh! Bickering! Half his front bench turned their backs on him and publicly claimed he was an unfit leader, then they were back lapping at the saucer the next week saying hes great!? A joke, a complete and utter joke. It's also an indefensible joke.

Maybe because a "devoted and capable" South Dublin councillor isn't qualified enough to fix the economy ?

Should people be given jobs that they're not suitable for just because they're "devoted" ?

Actually, don't bother answering that, because if you either support or excuse FF then we already know the answer.

Oh sorry, I didn't know the TD to represent South Dublin was meant to fix the economy? Because that's what George Lee was brought in to run for, to represent the people and interests of South Dublin. He had ideas about himself, sure enough, but that's what the job description was and I'm extremely sorry if you and him can't accept that fact.

The councillor in question had huge support in South Dublin and would have been a great representative. George Lee was not and never could have been. He hadn't a clue and was like a rabbit frozen in the headlights most of the times I saw him.

He was brought in to run for the South Dublin seat and left over reasons that had nothing to do with it. Again, an absolute, indefensible sham.

What "clear pleas" ? You mean the opinion polls ? The same mechanism that has shown "a clear plea" from the country for FF to get the hell out of office ? A plea that they're not only ignoring, but actively contesting in the courts in order to manipulate democratic by-elections for their own interest ?

No, the clear pleas from literally everyone at the doors when I was out canvassing. It was probably the number 1 statement said about FG at the time of the elections. If "We would vote for your party and put them into government if it werent for your leader" isn't a strong enough message then I dont know what is. How they could continue to ignore this given they have literally no chance of getting in with Kenny at the helm apart from extreme desperation is just amazing and truly telling of the parties attitude to the will of the people.

FF are the Government. They were elected and are serving their term there. They won an extremely important opinion poll not so long ago to get there. Some opinion poll in the newspaper shouldn't control what they do or who is governing. Don't be ridiculous.

Show me a better alternative and I'll run with that argument. Shane Ross or Pat Rabbitte would be my preference, but failing that Kenny & Gilmore are streets ahead of the former Minister for Finance who led us head-first into this fiasco and has lied through his teeth every step of the way.

Lead us head first? Christ, youd swear free will didnt exist any more. The Irish people ****ed the Irish nation. From the council workers demanding 35k salaries to the people demanding mortgages they couldn't afford long term. We screwed ourselves, but noone is to blame, were all human and make mistakes and everyone got greedy and caught up in the whirlwind of money. Now we've to pay the price, however trying to point the finger at the government and have the blame stop there is laughable at best.

Name ONE thing that Cowen has actually DONE in the interests of the country since the crisis emerged.

Lowered VAT.

Amusing.

DiarmaidGNR

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

I'm loving Brian Cowen!!

He is extremely intelligent.
He is very well spoken (apart from the fat man slur(not a drunken one!)).
He knows figures off by heart.
And he is willing to make unpopular decisions to better the country. (in my own opinion)

Sneaky is what your mistaking for intelligence
Well spoken? He comes across as a gruff arrogant twat
He makes up the figures as he goes along, how many times have those jackasses gotten it wrong at our cost?
He is willing to make unpopular decisions to do his best to save his party. Part of their budget plan is to stop paying interest for a few years so when the opposition are in they will get hammered with double debt repayments.

These guys are doing everything possible to save their party - they have rolled over as much debt as possible to all mature during the life of the next government:

Bonds maturing on the same date; 15th Jan 2014. Just in time for the new government's 2nd budget. 9.9 billion. Thats 9.9 BILLION on the same goddamn day. With 6 billion maturing on 18th April 2013!!
http://www.ntma.ie/GovernmentBonds/Daily_Bonds_Outstanding.pdf
http://www.ntma.ie/Publications/2009/Auctions_2009.pdf
http://www.ntma.ie/Publications/2010/Auctions2010.pdf

The next government as absolutely doomed. The only flaw in FFs plan is the chance that they go bankrupt early next year. If we dont go bankrupt by Quarter 2 2011 we will go bankrupt during the life of the next government. The figures are not manageable. I did an economics thesis on this 2 years ago before alot of the worst figures came out and the estimation then was that bankruptcy was assured between 2012 and 2015. For Irish people a worse scenario is that we continue to function without going bankrupt (possibly because of EU intervention) and simply divert all our resources towards repaying debt. This is what Mc Williams means when he says Irelands economy will become a debt servicing machine.

We are in so deep now that bankruptcy is actually a better outcome. Laws should be changed if necessary & Cowen and Lenihan should be up in court like they are doing in Iceland. Bankers should be tried. Yet here we have people coming online saying how they love Brian Cowen. People like you and all the other users who thanked your post (BOHtox, eia340600, flynner87, Guill, who what when) are why I have one way flights booked out of here.

Laminations

@BillShorey

How will you feel if the current allegations about Brian Cowens knowledge of Anglos problems and his attempts to protect Sean Quinn are found to be true?
Will you still hail the liar as our best option?

enda1

enda1 wrote: »

But neither does boards ever put forward a viable alternative.

There are loads of alternative ideas over in the economics forum.

Laminations

Don't even bother. The 'no alternatives' is usual FF spin.

'We had to save Anglo, there were no alternatives'
But there were
'well they weren't viable'
But how do you know?
'well we had to act fast, eh, we are where we are, and eh, we must look forward, no one could have forseen, eh, I don't accept that, we are turning a corner, any alternative approach would have ended the world, all the parties are the same, eh, **** you ye eejits you voted for us, and we won't leave'

Dob74

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

I have to admit, I prefer American politics due to it's entertaining nature, but lately I have been listening/watching Oireachtas sessions online, and I have to admit - I'm loving Brian Cowen!!

He is extremely intelligent.
He is very well spoken (apart from the fat man slur(not a drunken one!)).
He knows figures off by heart.
And he is willing to make unpopular decisions to better the country. (in my own opinion)

All of these qualities seemed to be magnified due to Enda Kennys inadequacies.


Here is Cowens latest speech. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzUbzDH2IA&feature=sub

Judge for yourself. Plenty of videos of all Dail sessions online.

***NB*** I am not part of any political party, I just call it the way I see it.

I like Cowen but to be honest he isn't doing a great job.
He was one of the main architects of our economic downfall so he most shoulder the blame.
Ahern, McCreevy and Harney are getting off lightly, to me they are for more responsible.
Same goes for D.Ahern, Martin, Dempsey and O'Ciuv they where at the cabinet table when all the wrong decisions where being made.

US politics is much better because the two parties actually disagree fundalmentally on everything.
The reason Enda looks foolish is that he agrees with nearly all of FF policies and is only debating for the sake of it.
Thats why Gilmore looks good he actually isnt a conserative like Cowen & Enda

Liam Byrne

BillShorey wrote: »

Oh sorry, I didn't know the TD to represent South Dublin was meant to fix the economy? Because that's what George Lee was brought in to run for, to represent the people and interests of South Dublin. He had ideas about himself, sure enough, but that's what the job description was and I'm extremely sorry if you and him can't accept that fact.

The councillor in question had huge support in South Dublin and would have been a great representative. George Lee was not and never could have been. He hadn't a clue and was like a rabbit frozen in the headlights most of the times I saw him.

Nice sarky twist. And I suddenly suspect your stance may be coloured by an allegience to whomever made way for Lee.

I had actually assumed (my mistake) that you were on about Bruton making way for Lee, hence the comments about whether someone would be able to do the job.

However the FACT remains that ALL TDs are required to save the economy and make decisions FOR THE COUNTRY and not for their own backyards. The fact that no-one in FF offers competence, confidence or credibility proves that we're not exactly over-run by suitable candidates, but I'd still view FG as a million miles ahead of FF; the fact that Varadkar and Bruton and Noonan are there means they have 3 additional competent heads compared to FF straight away.

BillShorey wrote: »

No, the clear pleas from literally everyone at the doors when I was out canvassing. It was probably the number 1 statement said about FG at the time of the elections. If "We would vote for your party and put them into government if it werent for your leader" isn't a strong enough message then I dont know what is.

Then it's ridiculous, but then we know that lots of the electorate are thick. After all, 18% will still vote FF.

BillShorey wrote: »

FF are the Government. They were elected and are serving their term there. They won an extremely important opinion poll not so long ago to get there. Some opinion poll in the newspaper shouldn't control what they do or who is governing. Don't be ridiculous.

I note that you didn't comment on their choices to deny 3 meaningful opinion polls. Strange, that, especially from a floating voter.

BillShorey wrote: »

Lead us head first? Christ, youd swear free will didnt exist any more. The Irish people ****ed the Irish nation.

I am an Irish person and I didn't f**k any nation.

BillShorey wrote: »

From the council workers demanding 35k salaries to the people demanding mortgages they couldn't afford long term.

Why, pray tell, were the council workers demanding 35K salaries ?

Oh - that's right- because they had to pay their rent to

BillShorey wrote: »

We screwed ourselves, but noone is to blame, were all human and make mistakes and everyone got greedy and caught up in the whirlwind of money. Now we've to pay the price, however trying to point the finger at the government and have the blame stop there is laughable at best.

So basically you're saying that the people WHOSE JOBS it was to MANAGE THE ECONOMY and got well-paid to do so are not to blame ?

THAT'S laughable.

Meanwhile you trot out the standard FF bull**** that "we're all to blame". Funny how we weren't "all to blame" for the Celtic Tiger - that was FF's doing, I suppose.

I'll gladly pay the price of MY decisions, because I signed up and agreed to them. That includes paying off a loan that is tight at the mo, but it's do-able because I didn't borrow too much.

If you want to allocate blame, do so appropriately or don't do it at all, because that sickening generalisation exposes your argument as complete tosh.

Cowen - the subject of this thread - was MINISTER FOR FINANCE.

It was HIS JOB to manage the economy and to oversee the banks with proper Financial Regulation.

It was NOT his job to land me with a €22,000 debt that I had no hand, act or part in and will probably never be able to pay.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Sneaky is what your mistaking for intelligence
Well spoken? He comes across as a gruff arrogant twat
He makes up the figures as he goes along, how many times have those jackasses gotten it wrong at our cost?
He is willing to make unpopular decisions to do his best to save his party. Part of their budget plan is to stop paying interest for a few years so when the opposition are in they will get hammered with double debt repayments.

These guys are doing everything possible to save their party - they have rolled over as much debt as possible to all mature during the life of the next government:

Bonds maturing on the same date; 15th Jan 2014. Just in time for the new government's 2nd budget. 9.9 billion. Thats 9.9 BILLION on the same goddamn day. With 6 billion maturing on 18th April 2013!!
http://www.ntma.ie/GovernmentBonds/Daily_Bonds_Outstanding.pdf
http://www.ntma.ie/Publications/2009/Auctions_2009.pdf
http://www.ntma.ie/Publications/2010/Auctions2010.pdf

The next government as absolutely doomed. The only flaw in FFs plan is the chance that they go bankrupt early next year. If we dont go bankrupt by Quarter 2 2011 we will go bankrupt during the life of the next government. The figures are not manageable. I did an economics thesis on this 2 years ago before alot of the worst figures came out and the estimation then was that bankruptcy was assured between 2012 and 2015. For Irish people a worse scenario is that we continue to function without going bankrupt (possibly because of EU intervention) and simply divert all our resources towards repaying debt. This is what Mc Williams means when he says Irelands economy will become a debt servicing machine.

We are in so deep now that bankruptcy is actually a better outcome. Laws should be changed if necessary & Cowen and Lenihan should be up in court like they are doing in Iceland. Bankers should be tried. Yet here we have people coming online saying how they love Brian Cowen. People like you and all the other users who thanked your post (BOHtox, eia340600, flynner87, Guill, who what when) are why I have one way flights booked out of here.

Apart from the one way flight bit,thats a good post.

People are too selfish and thick to be honest if they don't realise,we are all paying ourselves too much and expecting too many handouts from the state and expecting our taxes to fund all of this.
It's bloody ridiculous and the lesson will be learned the hard way.

Remember FF despite what people think here are still going to get votes next election.
They could get up to 60 seats thats only a loss of 15 or so...

Mary hanifin used the words "trust me" about the non introduction of fee's on today fm earlier today...this is the same lady that was adamant in a summer interview that only 4 billion of cuts were going to happen.
Of course in the same breath she says that there will be no introduction of fee's and that registration fee's were a different thing.
I mean LOL like...
The state can't afford not to charge for college education anyway and people are deluded if they think otherwise.The IMF won't be shy about telling us.
Let there be a graduate tax and be done with it.Thats how the third largest economy in the world,our neighbour does it...how the fcuk are we supposed to fund something they can't??

Now the 6 billion cuts aren't enough because people either have too many committments to take the bull by the horns or are too selfish

With a significant amount of voters willing to believe in the same old shoite,then the country is now fcuked in my opinion untill the hard masters,outside bankers force the changes.

danbohan

dahamsta wrote: »

Robert Mugabe has 7 degrees. Mugabe for Taoiseach!

no , hes not from dublin so it wont do at all !

Het-Field

BillShorey wrote: »

I'm sorry I upset you by criticising your leader, I had no idea Enda had fans with such an emotional investment in his character.

The Kenny/Bruton ordeal did one of the most important things that FG have done for this country in recent years: It split the belly of the party open and exposed them for what they truly are.

Coupled with the absolute mockery of Irish Politics that was George Lee and the subsequent handling of that joke by FG, the party have shown that they are in no way fit to govern this country.

What is your stance on Kenny's decision with regards to George Lee? He absolutely shafted a very devoted and very capable South Dublin councillor (who has now gone on to do a lot better things with his life than FG as a result) to run that mockery to Irish politics for the seat. Are you going to stand by and support that? What about how he handled the resignation? This was on Kenny's back, at a time when Kenny had 0 approval from the public, why didn't he do the right thing and give up his leadership after that farce?

Why, despite such clear pleas from the voters to do so, has Kenny not given up his leadership in favour of someone who will actually lead the party into government in this country?

He's absolutely indefensible, he's a bumbling fool and will make a mockery of this country if he is ever to represent us as Taoiseach.

I'm not here claiming that Brian Cowen is a magnificant leader whose every word glistens with life changing inspiration, but he's a hell of a lot better than the alternative right now.

If FG are to ever be in power here, I can only hope they get Richard Bruton or Leo Varadkar to the helm to do so. Also, I'm sorry you felt my post was pathetic, but there isn't a word of a lie in it and I'm sorry if it hurts to hear/read.

Have the R&W and Honohan reports not shown that Cowen is incapable ? Cowen has dropped the ball on many occasions. Your suggestion that Cowen's one positive step during the crisis was to lower VAT. This matter proves our point. He only lowered it, after he raised it by 0.5% in 2008, a move which proved to cost the Irish economy millions. Cowen willingly lived off windfall taxes once he took the reigns at the DOF. 2004 is seen as the seminal year as far as the structural crash is concerned. This runs parallel to the period in which Cowen was Minister for finance. The inflationary effect in the property market when Cowen took hold. It is now being proffered by newspapers that the Government, and presumably Cowen was aware of the negligent lending practices of the banks in Ireland.

What is pathetic about your post is that you are using Kenny's public perception as a stick to beat him with, and then tell us that Cowen is much better, even though his public opinion is in the gutter, he is being saved by backbencher fear as opposed to a belief in his abilities, and he was in the DOF when the negligent policy was being implemented. There is NOTHING to suggest that Cowen is a worthy leader. He patronised the country by initially telling us to bend over. When empirical evidence of his mistakes came to light he changed tack. The Government tried to tell us that we were on the way back. They consistently told us "we have turned the corner". Since the advent of the new working year, it has become clear that we are far deeper in the pig**** then we ever imagined.

If Kenny is a "bumbling fool", then what is Cowen ? A man who has made mistake after mistake since 2004, and had no track record prior to his engagement with the DOF. Im no FGer. Never voted for them in my life. I have voted FF for most of my voting life. However, I can see when they are failing the state. Kenny has no negative legislative record, and was part of a successful cabinet between 1994-1997, which laid the ground work for the 1997-2002 government (which was the most successful government of modern times). Cowen's record in Health was referring to the Department as "Angola" before jumping ship to the easy position of MFA, where all the hard work on Northern Ireland was complete, and he still failed to have the Treaty of Nice passed, until they outed the head of the No to Nice Campaign as somebody who had friends amongst Europe's Far Right elite. His time in Finance was a sham, and he is the poorest Taoiseach of all time. Dont tell me that we should ignore this and focus on George Lee and the heave. You are talking rubbish.

DiarmaidGNR

southsiderosie wrote: »

No, the government has to make the laws.

I have since found out that The Financial Regulator is a completely INDEPENDANT body.
It has nothing to do with the Dail what so ever.

Learn the facts.

CorkMan

stop trolling

Het-Field

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

I have since found out that The Financial Regulator is a completely INDEPENDANT body.
It has nothing to do with the Dail what so ever.

Learn the facts.

If ignorance is bliss then you must be the Irish Ned Flanders.

Ulysses Gaze

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

Is your first point not the role of the financial regulator?

In your second point - "projected revenues" - they are exactly that - projected, - a forecast based on a myriad of factors.

3rd point - I agree. (apart from the by election thing). I actually contacted the minister for education on the whole catholic thing, - shortly after wards the state started buying schools from the catholic church.
Also the way you phrase "Irish citizens" sounds very familiar, I think a certain fine gael politican likes to use similar phrases at least once in every sentence.

And on your final point, - I just don't see it. I realise how easy it is to be pissed off at the government right now, but he is soo much better than Bertie and Charlie (along with the opposition), he really is the best we've got! (doesn't really say much about Irish politicians)

I know I'm falling for a troll here but....

I'd take Noonan and Richard Bruton as leaders of the country over Cowen anyday of the week and twice on Sundays.

Plus, why is Kenny an 'Idiot'. You haven't really explained.

Oh and if Michael Martin or Mary "Unfortunately our people are living longer" Hanafin is made leader of your beloved Party, will you still be as disparaging of Teachers?

Ulysses Gaze

DiarmaidGNR wrote: »

I have since found out that The Financial Regulator is a completely INDEPENDANT body.
It has nothing to do with the Dail what so ever.

Learn the facts.

I'll tell you what Diarmuid....I have some nice beach-front Property in Arizona I can sell you.......

Mr Tim Buktoo

As if bruton or noonan or burton or jesus himself would have done anythiing differently if they were finance minister for those years that cowen was there.

raymon

Mr Tim Buktoo wrote: »

As if bruton or noonan or burton or jesus himself would have done anythiing differently if they were finance minister for those years that cowen was there.

Cowen and Lenihan are the worst politicians in the history of the state. Cowen should definitely be up in court for betraying the Irish people . What a traitor. Nobody has done more in our history to cause more damage to our nation.

Shame on them . Shame on you that voted these traitors in .